Just when you think you’ve seen or heard of every angle to pitch a so-called energy drink, you hear another one. “Drink this to enlarge your wiener.” “Drink this to make women want you.” “Drink this to be (insert celebrity here).” But here’s a new one: “Drinking a can of Celsius will actually burn calories, just by drinking it.”

“Yeah right,” I thought. I grew up in the Tony Little and Body by Jake (or Body by “Joke,” as a former boss in the fitness industry used to say) era of amazing fitness products that showed results within milliseconds of actually using them.

It sounded too gimmicky, so I looked at the research (which was easy to find on the company’s website), and I was pleased to see that there were seven specific studies which definitely meant the product wasn’t hiding things, making outrageous claims and then heading for the hills.

According to one study, consuming a single can of Celsius burns an average of over 100 calories in the following three hours, and the average person experienced an increase in metabolism of 12% in that same period. An additional study stated that over a 10-week period, men and women who used Celsius showed 93% greater fat loss, 50% more muscle gain, 62% better cardio fitness and 32% increased endurance compared to the group drinking the placebo.

The core of Celsius is its formula called MetaPlus, which is a blend of ingredients designed to work together to increase calorie burning over a three-hour period, specifically. The mix itself is a proprietary blend made by Celsius, but it also includes healthy ingredients lime Green Tea, Ginger, Caffeine, Guarana (not to be confused with the Santana song “Guajira”) and vitamins B and C.

There are eight different flavors of Celsius available: Sparkling Orange, Wild Berry and Cola are all carbonated; Green Tea Raspberry Acai, Lemon Iced Tea, Strawberry-Kiwi and Outrageous Orange are all non-carbonated; and there’s an Apple Orchard Blend which is naturally sweetened and non-carbonated.

The first flavor I tried was Sparkling Orange about 30 minutes before a three-mile run. It tasted a lot like Sunkist orange soda, just not nearly as sweet. I have always been pretty skeptical of anything that claimed to do what Celsius was claiming; Red Bull did nothing but give me a head rush and yearn to be in a seated position (magically, though, if there’s Jager in it, it just makes me feel euphoric). Red Line made me feel jittery, like I had been up for three days without sleep and made it impossible to focus, in the gym or anywhere else. But Celsius was very subtle, and it seemed like my energy level increased as I demanded more out of my body during the run. And my head never seemed loopy; my thoughts weren’t accelerated or disjointed.

Prior to a weight-lifting session the following day, I tried the Green Tea Raspberry Acai for a comparison, and it had the same effect; there wasn’t an immediate explosion of ridiculous energy that I think we’ve all come to expect of an energy drink thanks to sugar content, but there was a noticeable uptick in overall energy. It was almost like it amplified the good feeling you get by working out, in a non-synthetic, forced way.

The taste of each sample I tried was solid and actually surprisingly good. My least favorite was the Cola flavor (which reminded me of flat RC Cola) and my favorite was Green Tea Raspberry.

“Hear me now and believe me later” – if you’re into energy drinks, at least give Celsius a try, if for nothing else than the claims are backed up not only by science, but also by the feeling you get when you try it. Check out the website www.celsius.com.